Donna Raynor has welcomed her retirement from the corporate world to concentrate on giving her full attention to athletics administration.

Raynor retired from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, where she was an assistant director, last month. She had worked for the financial regulator for seven years, having occupied roles previously at the Belco and Axa XL.

In August 2023, the former Bermuda National Athletics Association president realised her dream when she was elected as a member of the World Athletics Council.

She cited that elevation as her main reason to call time on her business career when she reached retirement age.

“I’m happy that I’m able to focus on my passion and I get to travel the world while I do it,” Raynor told The Royal Gazette.

“When I was elected to the World Athletics Council, I didn’t realise how much time I would have to put in.

“Once I recognised that, I decided I cannot do both. Because athletics is my passion, I decided it was time to live my life and enjoy my passion.

“I really started thinking about it last year. Sitting on the council, we have three in-person meetings, at the World Indoor Championships, World Championships and then we have another one every year in December in Monaco.

“With those meetings, we receive about 20 to 30 documents that we have to go through and that takes a lot of time.

“Not only do you sit on the council, you are also assigned to committees, commissions and task forces. I chair the national review panel, which is when these athletes try to transfer from country to country.

“That takes a lot of time because we have to review submissions and come up with decisions. As far as the council is concerned, we receive papers that have to read.

“Right now we just put in gender testing. They send us papers, we review, discuss and approve.

“We also introduced the mixed relay and that is presented to us by the competitions commission. We have to discuss what order the relays should be in.

“We have several proposals that come through from different committees. I also sat on the working group on transgender athletes. We had scientists and doctors that came in to present papers.

“I head up the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association gender leadership committee.

“I sit on the NACAC Council because I am a World Athletics Council member in the Americas area. We have meetings every Sunday and we have decisions to make.

“I’m also part of the Bermuda Olympic Association and I head up the gender diversity and inclusion committee. We are planning a big event in November and that is taking up a lot of my time.”

The former track and field athlete anticipates that her life post-retirement is going to be busier than it was when she was in full-time employment.

“People ask me what I’m going to do now that I’m retired,” the former middle-distance runner said.

“I always tell them if you come to my house and sit with me for a day, you definitely won't ask that question.

“President [Sebastian] Coe has put me on a lot of committees since I joined. Last year I said I can’t do both. If I cannot work at the BMA and fulfil my responsibilities, it would be best that I retire.

“I had people that reported to me plus I managed projects, so I looked at all that before making my decision.

“The other thing that made me decide is the travel. Most of the meetings are held in Monaco, that’s where our meeting office is.

“Every month I’m out of the country going to meetings or track meets. I looked at that and halfway into last year, I had run out of vacation days, that meant I couldn't go on a family vacation.

“I’ve been involved with athletics since I was 13 when I was an athlete. I ran track events right till I was 33, so that’s been my entire life.

“Now this is the pinnacle. I never thought I could sit on the World Athletics Council. I wanted to but I never thought someone from little Bermuda could get elected to a council of 26 members, voted for by 201 countries.”

While she is no longer involved directly with the BNAA — an association she served as president for 12 years — Raynor is using her World Athletics position to help improve the standard of the sport on the island.

“I still keep in tune with Bermuda’s athletics association as well,” Raynor said.

“I pass on information to them that I get out of the council meetings. We look at trying to increase the number of female officials and coaches. I make sure they have all that information.

“From a World Athletics standpoint, we’re looking at getting more female officials involved in the sport. This is to ensure that when we have our meets, we have 50/50 representation for our officials.

“We do have a couple of Bermudians that are going through the course. One of them was at the Carifta Games. I’m encouraging her to prepare and pass the exams that can open us prospects for her.”

Raynor is in Tokyo, Japan, attending her first WA Congress, where she took up her seat as a council member for the first time.

“The first time I attended the congress I sat there, looked at the people on the stage and told myself I wanted to be up there one day,” the seasoned administrator said.

“This year I’ll be up on the stage for the first time and I’m really excited.”

Bermuda is represented at the World Championships by sprinter Caitlyn Bobb.

Raynor is trying her best to help the 400 metres runner qualify for more global events.

“Caitlyn and I have a wonderful relationship,” Raynor said. “She was at the NACAC Championships in Bahamas and I was there. I helped her get her gender testing because all females are required to take gender tests for the World Championships this year, it’s just a swab in your cheek, there’s no blood involved.

“I have chats with Caitlyn on a regular basis. I have asked her what her plans are once she’s graduated.

“She’s running good times and I helped her get into a couple of meets before the NACAC Championships and the Junior Pan American Games. She ended up going to Canada for events and she did well.

“I know she is working on getting an agent. Where I can help her, if there are people that I can introduce to help her, I would do that.

“Now she is out of university, she’s got to find a coach and an agent to help her get into meets. What happens is that once you’re out of university, you’re on your own.

“I’ve seen the qualifying standards for the World Indoor Championships. When I meet her in Tokyo, I’m going to encourage her to try and qualify for that event, just because I know that she can make the standard.

“It would be more about encouraging her and reaching out to her. Whenever she needs assistance, I will help because I see the talent in her.

“I know she trains and fights hard. I just want to see her progress in her career. Even though I’m not the president of the association, I feel like I’m still invested in helping her qualify for LA28.

“I think she can meet the qualifying standard or be in the top ranking. But she has to be in the right place at the right time.

“She has a wonderful brand. I can see somebody picking her up. Her brand is fantastic and she puts herself out there and I think she does it in a positive manner.”

The Bermudian administrator supports gender testing, which became a major issue surrounding an Algerian boxer at the Paris Olympics.

“For me I think gender testing is a necessity,” Raynor said.

“I feel it’s better to find out before the event than at the event. When you find out at the event, it turns into a circus. It embarrasses the athletes, federation and the sport.

“For me, it’s better to find out before they get to compete, or before an athlete puts in a protest forward to say I don’t think this athlete is female.

“I think it’s better for all sports if all of that happens upfront. Females have been fighting for rights for a long time.

“We’re still fighting to be on equal footing, now you’re bringing other people into the sport.

“At the same time I don’t agree with forcing athletes to take pills because you penalise athletes for doping. Now you’re asking them to take pills.

“I was never a proponent of that but at the end of the day, unfortunately, they do have a physical advantage.

“To ask them to take pills to reduce their testosterone levels is wrong. We don’t know how it’s affecting their body.

“Something could happen, you’re changing the inner workings of your body. But if an athlete decides to do that, you can’t stop them.

“What could happen in future is that such athletes have a separate category. I know in the marathons they do have a category for non-binary athletes.

“The only thing with track is that our schedule is so tight. Right now we’re trying to reduce the number of events, so it will be hard to add all those categories.”